Discussion: 3SGTE on OBD2 Options

[bnr32celica]

Background:

Spun a bearing in cylinder 4 on my 5S. Rest of block is savable, crank is not. The head isn't in great nick either. I have a known bad lifter (possibly more than one), and the head is more than likely warped and not able to be further machined (the first time I did the HG they took off 19 thou, the second time I just threw a new one on).

Car:

1996 Celica GT with 282k miles. It MUST stay OBD2 thanks to eCheck (and the fact that I'm a certified eCheck tech, how bad would that look lol)0. Here's my two options...

Option 1: 5SGE/Gen2-3 3SGE. This would be damn near plug and play. I'm not abashed to overboring my block to accept some nicer pistons with slightly higher compression to take advantage of a GE head. Also not abashed to a 3SGE motor either. Would require some sensor porting, but nothing that couldn't be done in a day. I consider this the same option.

Option 2: Gen2 3SGTE. I would approach this similarly to a 3SGE swap. The car SHOULD run on OBD2 if I do several things in addition to the basics:
--Swap over the 5S crank gear/crank sensor (Gen2 gets both cam and crank sensor from the disty)
--Use the 5S distributor (see above)
--Swap over ANY sensor that was on the 5S (and I mean every single one)
--Do some creative vacuum lines to trick the factory 5S MAP sensor
--Retard base timing (the 5S is known to add boatloads of timing under WOT)

I'm not abashed to trailblazing, but there has to be somebody who has done it (or at least has gotten close). I hate to think that a lowly Civic owner can just swap anything he desires and have full functionality, and we can't. I have a second car (a 2006 Corolla XRS 6MT), so this car can stay down for a little while. I must say though, the Corolla drives like **** compared to my 6GC, so I want my 6GC back.

I want an intelligent discussion, simply saying "IMPOSSIBRU!" or "You can't!" won't be accepted as valid. I want this to be informative, eye-opening, and hopefully helpful to others in my boat.

[bnr32celica]

No 3SGTE was ever OBD2. This is my issue. The closest I have seen to a Gen4 ANYTHING OBD2 was a 6GC with a BEAMS running 1ZZ management. Wires everywhere, but you could scan the hell out of that car. I almost had to fail it for a swap, but luckily, it was a 99 engine in a 1996. I don't ask questions, if it scans, it's fine.

I believe that car was done a LONG time ago, it looked like hell, and I knew the last owner. Car met its demise when she ran off the road doing 90+. Should have bought the car from her, but she junked it. Would have been a good start on a BEAMS/Gen4 swap...